Magdalena (Argentina)

Magdalena is a town in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the head town for the District of Magdalena. It was founded in 1611, but the small village grew slowly until the late nineteenth century. The name “Magdalena“ came from Mary Magdalene, a character in the New Testament. She was named thus because she was from Magdala, a village on the sea of Galilee. She was a popular saint in the Middle Ages and the name became common then.

The most direct way to get Magdalena is flying to Buenos Aires and then you can take a bus or rent a car. The distance from Ezeiza Airport to Magdalena is 129 km, and the distance from La Plata (the capital city of the province of Buenos Aires) is 49 km.

The region has a beautiful landscape and visitors find in Magdalena a lot of things to see and to do. They can go to the beach along the coast of Rio de La Plata and spend a day off. They can have a beach day, they can swim, play beach volley ball, frisbee or just relax and read a book. Its coasts and the river also offer fishermen the chance of excellent fishing. The Parque Costero del Sur was declared World Heritage Site ( Reserva mundial de Biosfera) by UNESCO in 1984. It is situated along the coast of the Rio de La Plata, between Magdalena and Punta de Indio and this coastal area is 70 km long and 5 km wide.

The most popular trees are the Talas. It is one of the main components of this area. The Tala is a medium to large sized tree sometimes reaching 12 m high. This tree flowers in spring. Ceramics forms known as “tubular potteries” have been found in Magdalena and Punta de Indio, near the river. The peculiarity of such ceramics is their morphology with two open ends. This lively agricultural and commercial centre has a splendid historic centre, which has remained almost intact. Built near the Rio de La Plata, it had strategic importance some time ago. Visitors have to visit the Parish of Santa María Magdalena, which was consacreted in 1776 and was inaugurated in 1860. Inside this temple you can admire the Santa María Magdalena articulated doll whose hair was made with natural hair.

Other places you can visit in this town with a neocolonial architecture are the City Hall, designed by Pedro Cavalli that was completed in 1877 and the Teatro Español in 1899. The Posta de Aguirre is an older century building covered with a two sided French bricks roof and has been used like a posta (hostel and horse stable) to sleep and to change horses. They assured Juan Manuel de Rosas nicknamed “ Restorer of the laws” who was a politician and army officer and became governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 and 1835 lived sometime there. The Magdalena cemetery, constitute a heritage that should be preserved for its historical, artistic and symbolic value. Finally you can find there a relaxing, peaceful and authentic atmosphere and you deserve enjoy their beautiful streets, architectural styles, travel back in time and warms inhabitants.